50 Top Photos of 2012

A selection of 50 of the top photographs by the Independent Mail photography staff during 2012. Photos are from news events, found features, sports, and personality portraits.

A view of a pedestrian crossing sign is seen with a close-up lens through the drops of rain on a windshield in Anderson. Scattered rain in Anderson, nearly a half inch, did not keep people from walking in the rain.

Belton Middle School sixth grader Joseph Carter playfully holds up two fingers behind Governor Nikki Haley while taking a group photo. Governor Haley was visiting the school as part of an anti-bullying campaign.

Westside fans celebrate Friday's 60-56 win over rival T.L. Hanna by carrying Kyreen Sadler across the court. Sadler drew a charge in the closing seconds of the second overtime period to secure the Rams' win.

Belton-Honea Path offensive lineman Dillon Coleman gets his helmet knocked off by Pendleton defensive lineman Michael Hill during the first quarter in Pendleton.

Wren's Adam House slides safely into home as Palmetto's Justin Driver tries to tag him out in the first inning on Wednesday.

Mark Murphy of Anderson finishes filling his gas tank at the Raceway station on Clemson Boulevard in Anderson. A reflection of the large sign, showing a $3.19 price for regular unleaded, one of the lowest in Anderson, is seen in his door window.

Gail Chastin catches an egg during the egg toss competition at Hillbilly Day in Mountain Rest on Wednesday afternoon.

Tim Drake looks outside of the front door of a historic house on Clark Street in Pendleton. Drake is restoring the building which was built around 1786 and was owned by Rena Clark who started the Anderson County Training School which served the town's black population.

Raven Smalls, left, and Lydia Wright, senior students from Clemson University in the acapella group Take Note, sing Beatles hit song "Yesterday" during a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial celebration at Westside High School in Anderson.

Members of the North Carolina baseball team put on rally caps to urge their teammates to break a 3-3 tie with Clemson in the ninth inning Saturday. The Tar Heels scored three runs in the inning to win 6-3.

A Flour Field employee watches through a hole in the scoreboard as Clemson University's baseball team faces Elon University.

Brittany Houston, a sophomore at Palmetto High School, is the Independent Mail Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Brittany averaged 18.4 points a game, helping lead the Lady Mustangs to the third round of the Class 2A state high school playoffs.

The Seattle Wheel and the rotating swing were popular attractions at The Great Anderson County Fair Saturday night.

Tomas Petit celebrates as he approaches the finish line with a large lead to win the Category 3 race at the Tour de LaFrance at the Civic Center of Anderson on Sunday.

Karson McBride of Starr said he is close to collecting 20,000 aluminum can tops for the Ronald McDonald House. Two days after he was born, Karson was treated for two brain aneurysms. For nearly two months, said his grandmother, Judy McBride, he was in the hospital. The treatment left him with short-term memory loss and some learning problems, but it left him alive.

Westside High School's Corey Davis is fouled by T.L. Hanna High School's Zach Durkee late in the fourth quarter.

South Carolina's Marcus Lattimore reaches for his leg while being tackled by Tennessee's Herman Lathers in the second quarter. Lattimore was carted off of the field after suffering a dislocated knee. It was the second year-ending knee injury in as many years for the star running back.

Tommy Watt, Johnny Wheaton, and John Howard carry yard-line number stencils before painting them on the grass in Memorial Stadium. The painters said they use orange and white paint, about 150 gallons, to spray lines, hash marks, letters, and numbers.

Members of the Clemson University pep band wear light-up glasses for Saturday's men's basketball game against Wake Forest University.

North Augusta's Keyon West rips off T.L. Hanna's DeAvin Rencher's helmet after Rencher intercepted a pass in the third quarter on Friday.

Larry Kelly Jr. hugs his father, Larry Kelly Sr., near his wife, Lori, at the scene of a fire that destroyed their rented home. They had just qualified for charity assistance to get power turned on at the home.

Mark Owens walks past his pick up truck while taking pictures with a cell phone. Owens flipped his truck several times and wrecked into a group of tress after colliding with another motorist on Interstate 85 near exit 35 Friday afternoon. ÒBy the grace of God, Buddha, Allah, IÕm alive,Ó Owens said. ÒIÕm going to church on Sunday.Ó

Michael Kirksey watches his son Stephon Kirksey practice with the D.W. Daniel High School junior varsity team in the rain on Tuesday. People across the Upstate sought shelter from morning showers but many high school players were not spared a day of practice because of the rain.

Cornelius Pickens of Centerville fire station sprays down a smoking spot on the Walden Oaks Apartments building at sunrise, destroyed by fire the day before.

Kadyn Stancil, 8, Joseph Goss, 11, and Owen Pruitt, 8, jump on a trampoline in the front yard of the Pruitt's home on South Avenue in Newry as Owen's father Jason Pruitt, top left, work on his Ford Mustang. Jason Pruitt was born in Newry and said he has moved in and out of the town but Newry is always home. Newry is one of several communities in the Upstate that were supported by the operation of a mill. Many of these communities have struggled to find their identity.

Emma Helm, 20, sunbathes on the beach at Darwin Wright Park in Anderson, S.C. on Thursday, March 15, 2012. Helm said that she got burned sunning herself on her back on Wednesday but returned to the park to even out her tan. "It's nice weather. I love it. I love laying out," she said. Forecasters are calling for temperatures to continue to push into the 80s in the coming days.

South Carolina trooper Jake Pruitt leans over to talk to driver Luke Anthony Mazanec of Greer, who drove his Nissan Xterra into a creek off U.S. 76, near Tri-County Technical College. Mazanec was not seriously injured.

Wren Middle School student Zannah Davis reacts after being surprised by a visit from her brother Shawn Davis, a US Army Military Police officer who recently returned from service in Afghanistan.

Ryan Cook splashes into a pool of water at the end of a slide at Splashy Joe's Slip 'n Slide Water Park at the Civic Center of Anderson on Tuesday. Forecasters are calling for high temperatures and afternoon thunderstorms for the next several days.

A woman leaving the Anderson County Courthouse walks in flip-flop sandals, walking in the rain from tropical storm Beryl, to the parking garage in downtown. A band of rain from Anderson to Jacksonville moved north.

Landon Sanders, left, becomes emotional as his grandmother Karen Sanders Greenway spoke during a hearing Sanders pleaded guilty to the murders of Jason Ashley Sanders and Candace Giannoni Sanders at the Anderson County Courthouse Wednesday morning.

Mourners hold their lit candles at Monday's vigil for Matthew "Jet" McClellion at T.L. Hanna High School. McClellion died in a single-vehicle accident on Friday.

JackÊstarts calculus homework at the Calvary Home for Children. Before he was sent to the home, he lived with different foster famlies. He is 16 andÊdreams of becoming an engineering student at Clemson University.Ê

Keith Crane uses a rod to remove wooden panels covering the windows on the second floor of the building at 129 E. Whitner St. on Wednesday. The building is under renovation as part of the city's plan to build a downtown amphitheater.

Owen Pruitt, 8, middle, and Joseph Goss, 11, right, ride their bikes on South Avenue in Newry. Owen has lived in Newry for his whole life and his father Jason Pruitt was born and raised in the town. Newry is one of several communities in the Upstate that were supported by the operation of a mill. Many of these communities have struggled to find their identity.

Bystanders wave flags from atop the North Pine Street overpass as Marines from the Marine Special Operations Command in Camp Lejeune, N.C., make their way along U.S. 123 on Monday. The Marines will be treated to several days of rest and relaxation by residents of Keowee Key this week.

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich gets his photograph taken by Alex Speed, 11, of Anderson, right, and several other photographers, as he looks out the drive-through window at a Chick-Fil-A in Anderson.

David Snyder, mandolin player for the group Last Road, laughs while playing with fellow band mates and members of Golden Valley Crusaders behind the stage at Rudy's Bluegrass in the Woods Friday afternoon.

Anderson County firefighters train a hose on a burning section of a storage building at 4934 U.S. 29 North on Friday. Traffic was diverted around the scene and no injuries were reported.

Steve Finley, right, of AndersonÊputsÊgasoline in a container at the Spinx station on S.C. 81 South in Anderson. Finley said he needed gas for his lawnmower, but didn't want to drive his car to get it from his nearby home.

Christina Burgan dances with her date Marky Olinski at the Come Dream With Me prom for children and young adults with special health care needs at the Hilton in Greenville. The Come Dream With Me prom was created to give students with physical and mental disabilities a comfortable place to attend a prom without the social pressures of public high school proms.

Palmetto High School pitcher Tabitha Allen, middle, and Palmetto High School catcher Emma Ogburn celebrate together during a trophy ceremony. The Lady Mustangs defeated Dillon High School to win the AA State Softball Championship Wednesday night in Williamston.

Ronald Floyd Holden, 64, plays guitar on the front porch of his home in Utica. Holden said he is a contractor and helped stripped the inside of the Utica mill after it closed. Holden's mother and aunts worked at the mill several years ago when it was the Utica Mohawk Textile Mill.

Lees-McRae College's Scott Hudgins, top left, and Luke Duffy go up for a header against Anderson University's Daniel Bowers in the first half of their game in Anderson Wednesday afternoon.

South Carolina linebacker D.J. Swearinger trips up Georgia running back Merritt Hall during the second quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. South Carolina upset fifth-ranked Georgia 35-7 in front of 85,000 fans and a national television audience.

Lakeside Middle School students Schuyler Kessinger, 12, left, and Jacob Guthrie, 12, react after a malfunction of their robot during the FIRST LEGO League Tournament at Tri-County Technical College Saturday morning.

A group of people react after Anderson deputy coroner Don McCown informs them that the body of Crystal Lester was found in Lake Hartwell at Singing Pines Recreation Area Wednesday afternoon. Crystal Lester drowned after stepping into an area of the lake the quickly dropped off.

Tyler Owens of Monks Corner, who has cerebal palsy, is greeted by some of 850 Palmetto Boys State campers. Owens was the last to finish a mile run in honor of Capt. David Hortman, a former camp couselor, who died last August serving in the U.S. Army. Boys State is a week long camp for selected rising senior high school boys which teaches aspects of government and teamwork.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley hugs Debby Whitsitt of Landrum after giving her a pen used at a ceremonial bill signing for S. 1213 Medal of Valor Act at the 263rd Army Air & Missile Defense Artillery Brigade in Anderson. Whitsitt's son, Army Spc. Geoffrey A. Whitsitt, died in January 2010, serving during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.